


Sefikura Week 2020

by Imaginative_Spirit



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Drabble Collection, M/M, Sefikura Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:08:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22403899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imaginative_Spirit/pseuds/Imaginative_Spirit
Summary: A collection of seven mostly unrelated drabbles based on my artwork for Sefikura Week 2020 (Warnings for each individual drabble inside)
Relationships: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Comments: 70
Kudos: 136
Collections: Sefikura (Sephiroth/Cloud) Week - Yearly Event





	1. Remake

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my uncreatively named fic for Sefikura Week 2020! These drabbles are all based on artwork I originally did for the prompts, but since I never know when to stop I ended up throwing together this little collection as well... If you want to find the art easily, it will be posted in the sefikura week tag on my Tumblr [here](https://imaginative-spirit.tumblr.com/tagged/sefikuraweek/) and alternatively it can be found on my Twitter as well [here](https://twitter.com/ethereal_savior/)!
> 
> Warning(s) for this chapter: Puppet Cloud and all the stuff that goes with it

“Thank you for giving me the Black Materia, Cloud”, Sephiroth said, the smug smirk on his face contrasting with his ethereal appearance, floating in the green.

“Fuck you”, Cloud snarled, heart racing so quick that it made him breathless. He couldn’t believe he’d done this; he’d betrayed all of his friends, and now Sephiroth would summon Meteor and the entire world would end because he’d been so weak…!

“Now, don’t be so cold.” Sephiroth’s hair moved as if it had a life on its own, curling into tendrils behind him, all too mesmerising for Cloud to avert his eyes. “You wanted to give it to me, even if it meant you had to forsake everyone and everything. There’s nothing you can do to change it now.”

Cloud tried to speak, but a sudden dizziness overcame him. Sephiroth’s smirk grew ever wider, and suddenly he was close, too close, reaching his hand out. Cloud made an attempt to flinch away, but Sephiroth caught him by the hair and tugged him closer, until their faces were so close that it was impossible to look away.

“I can feel the pain inside you, eating you alive”, Sephiroth said, voice strangely gentle now. Even the expression on his face seemed softer, somehow. Something about it made Cloud’s head spin. Sephiroth was his enemy, this wasn’t supposed to be happening… “Does it hurt?”

“It does”, Cloud admitted quietly. He felt like he was so close to cracking – or maybe he already had. It would certainly explain why he’d made the choices that had led him here.

“I can make it stop hurting”, Sephiroth murmured. “Do you want me to do that for you?” He spoke so softly, and his hand had come down to rest on Cloud’s cheek, thumb brushing over Cloud’s lower lip in a soothing gesture.

“Please”, Cloud choked out despite himself. It was wrong, it was wrong in every way, but he was tired. He couldn’t do this anymore, and if Sephiroth could take it all away, he had no choice but to accept. Maybe it was another one of Sephiroth’s mind games, but he wasn’t sure he was even capable of caring anymore. He could practically feel Sephiroth’s satisfaction at his answer.

“I’m going to remake you in my own image, Cloud”, Sephiroth whispered and pressed his lips to Cloud’s. Everything else stopped mattering. The rest of the world faded away, leaving behind only Sephiroth, flooding into his mind, into every nook and corner until there was nothing else left.

Sephiroth broke the kiss to draw Cloud into his lap and continued to touch his face and hair. Cloud’s entire body felt too limp to resist, and he found he didn’t even want to. He leant against Sephiroth’s shoulder, feeling… empty. Devoid of all the pain that had caused him so much grief for so long. The only thing he could feel were Sephiroth’s emotions swirling inside him. Sephiroth was proud of him for giving in, freely allowing his affection to seep into Cloud’s veins until everything was warm and fuzzy.

“It feels good, doesn’t it?” Sephiroth practically cooed. “My beautiful puppet, you did so well… I’m so proud of you.”

It did feel good. It felt so sickeningly good that Cloud had no idea how he’d gone without it. He wasn’t sure he would ever be able to go without it ever again. The mere thought of it made something very much like fear bubble up in his chest, but that, too, was quickly squashed by Sephiroth’s all-consuming presence.

“Don’t worry, puppet”, Sephiroth purred. “You’ll never have to think again. You’ll never have to feel again. Not as long as you’re mine.”

“Yours”, Cloud managed, though his voice was barely even a whisper. Even though his head felt empty, he distantly thought that maybe, he wanted Sephiroth to kiss him again, but even that thought was hard to hold on to. Still, Sephiroth had clearly felt his desire and chose to grant him his wish, immediately pressing their lips together again, so softly, so carefully.

“Good boy… You like that, don’t you?” He pulled away for just a moment before descending on Cloud’s lips again, biting down on Cloud’s lower lip hard enough to draw blood this time, before licking it up again in that same oddly gentle way.

“Yes”, Cloud gasped against Sephiroth’s lips.

“Now tell me again who you belong to.” Sephiroth’s voice was so soothing, wrapping around him like a blanket, shielding him from everything else…

“I’m yours”, Cloud whispered. Had there even been a choice? He’d always been Sephiroth’s, hadn’t he? Even when he hadn’t known any better, he’d always been a puppet made in his master’s image…

“That’s right”, Sephiroth said, so lovingly that Cloud knew in that moment that he’d do absolutely anything to make this man – no, this god – happy. “I think I prefer you like this… My precious Cloud. You’re being so good for me. Now, get some rest. We have a lot of work to do…”

Cloud tried to speak but he couldn’t move a muscle. He was so tired, so numb, and now that Sephiroth was here to shoulder all his burdens, he could finally let go of everything…

…and so, he did.


	2. Bird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s) for this chapter: none really, except for the fact that Sephiroth is being a general disaster human being

Sephiroth tossed the book to the floor in frustration, trying desperately to repress the burning feeling rising in his chest. His hands were shaking, and he braced himself against the bookshelf for support. All the information he’d been trying to take in over the last few days was just too much and it made his head spin. His mother was a long-dead Ancient. He’d been made to be Shinra’s lab rat. He didn’t want to believe any of it, but he could still feel a sense of urgency slowly rising within him.

Without warning, there was a piercing pain in his shoulder blade, and suddenly feathers were pooling around him. Sephiroth twitched and glanced over his shoulder to find… a wing. He had a wing. Oh gods, he really was a monster, wasn’t he? With an anguished little sound, he sank to the floor, legs no longer able to carry his weight.

He was no hero. He’d been nothing but a bird in a cage all along. Shinra had made him into their pet, played him for a fool all this time… Genesis had been right, and now he was here, all alone…!

It was impossible to tell how much time passed while he sat there on the floor, desperately trying to take deeper breaths and stop his heart from racing, but then again, he’d lost track of time a long time ago anyway. His eyes were burning, and he wanted to scream for somebody to please help, wanted to rage against the world that had treated him so unfairly from the very beginning…

Then, suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

“Um, sir? It’s Cloud. Zack sent me to check on you…” Zack’s jumpy little friend from the infantry peeked in through the door before stepping inside, hesitance clear in his steps.

“Go away! Don’t look at me!” Sephiroth snapped, his heart racing as he tried to come up with a way that Cloud wouldn’t see the wing, but it was already too late.

“…Oh. I didn’t know you had a wing too, sir. It’s so pretty”, Cloud whispered, staring at him with stars in his eyes. How dare he – the thing that marked Sephiroth as inhuman… it wasn’t pretty. Nothing about him was.

“No, it isn’t”, Sephiroth hissed. “Leave.”

“Are you… afraid of me?” Cloud asked as he slowly stepped closer, shaky voice still so unbearably gentle. “You don’t need to be scared. I won’t tell anyone.”

“I’m not scared!” Sephiroth snapped. He was filled with the instinct to run, but somehow, his body just wouldn’t move.

“You’re shaking”, Cloud said and crouched down next to him on the floor. Sephiroth was tempted to point out that Cloud was shaking too. Obviously, he was terrified of Sephiroth; anyone would be. “Zack’s your friend, right? Why didn’t you want to talk to him?”

“He wouldn’t understand.” Sephiroth wasn’t sure how to feel right now at all. A part of him was still caught up in the web of terror he’d created for himself, but Cloud’s sudden appearance had partly shocked him out of it.

“He doesn’t have to understand everything in order to be a shoulder to cry on”, Cloud murmured. “He’s a good friend. Gives the best hugs. Doesn’t try to push for an explanation. I’m sure he’d still like to help, in any way he can. Trust me, I speak from experience.” He offered Sephiroth a small, crooked smile. “No offense sir, but you really look like you need a hug.”

“Is that so?” Sephiroth retorted with less bite than he would’ve liked. “Then do something about it.”

He hadn’t expected Cloud to actually take him up on his challenge. He’d only said it in hopes that it would finally scare him off. There was no way a tiny little thing like him would dare to touch Sephiroth… except he was wrong, because Cloud immediately pulled him into hug and held on tight. Sephiroth automatically flinched.

“It’s okay”, Cloud whispered. “Don’t be scared.”

Sephiroth couldn’t help himself; a wounded wail escaped him, and he clung to Cloud, his entire body shaking in its desperate need for comfort. Cloud didn’t seem to mind at all, reaching out with one hand to comb Sephiroth’s wing.

Again, Sephiroth lost track of how much time passed, but he found he didn’t mind it much, not when he was being offered this kindness when he’d needed it the most. He might have been the one with the wing, but Cloud was the only angel here.

“Well… is it helping?” Cloud asked after a while.

“Don’t stop”, Sephiroth replied quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly. Cloud giggled and tightened his grip on Sephiroth.

“Okay. This wasn’t really how I expected it to go when I came down here, but… okay.” He started combing Sephiroth’s wing again. Now that he’d calmed down a bit, Sephiroth came to the urgent realisation that it felt _really_ good.

“You… really think it’s pretty.” It was incomprehensible to him.

“Yeah. I’ve always liked birds”, Cloud said, sounding surprisingly playful. “Hey, let’s go back upstairs now, ‘kay? You’re not gonna feel any better sitting down here in the basement all alone.”

Maybe, Sephiroth thought as Cloud helped him to his shaky feet, it didn’t have to be all bad. Birds did symbolise freedom too, after all.


	3. Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s) for this chapter: Major character death (potentially temporary but this is left unclear), I'm being mean again, I'm sorry

The rain picked up while they were fighting, dancing through the air above the wasteland outside of Midgar, and by the time Cloud embedded his sword in Sephiroth’s chest, it was already pouring down. Cloud watched as Masamune slipped from Sephiroth’s hand and pulled the sword from his chest, expecting him to start disintegrating at any moment, just like he always did when Cloud had to kill him. But instead, Sephiroth went plummeting down towards the ground far below as Cloud managed to keep himself in the air a little while longer before he followed the same path.

Cloud landed a little bit clumsily but still managed to stay on his feet and immediately hurried towards where he thought Sephiroth might have fallen. It didn’t take him long to find Sephiroth at all; he’d landed on his back and was now lying on the ground in a pool of mud and his own blood. Cloud noted the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Ah, fuck, he’d failed to kill him properly. It was tempting to leave Sephiroth to bleed out; maybe he’d be less eager to come back after that. But no, Cloud supposed he’d have to finish the job. He stepped closer but remained cautious, in case Sephiroth had an ace up his sleeve.

“Cloud…” Sephiroth heaved and tried to sit up, but quickly collapsed onto his back again, face twisting into a pained grimace. Cloud froze. He’d never seen an expression that human on Sephiroth’s face before.

Cloud wasn’t sure what possessed him to drop his sword and haul Sephiroth up into a sitting position, but he’d already done so by the time he started questioning it. Sephiroth was shivering and the ground beneath him was smeared with blood. He didn’t have long.

“It’s… cold”, Sephiroth whispered. “The rain, it…” Whatever he’d been about to say next was interrupted by him coughing up blood. So human. Cloud couldn’t look away.

“I should just finish the job”, Cloud said. But he didn’t. Instead, he just kept staring at Sephiroth. He’d never been this close to him in a non-combat situation before. Even now, covered in mud, rain and blood, there was an otherworldly beauty about him.

“I’m tired…” Sephiroth’s voice was small. “Mother says I should keep fighting… but for what? I keep coming back for you alone, Cloud…”

“If you’re tired, you should rest. For good, this time”, Cloud said firmly.

“No… I will keep coming back to you, Cloud…” Sephiroth raised a shaking hand and brushed it over Cloud’s cheek with surprising gentleness before it fell to his side once again. “Who would you be… without me?”

“A much happier person”, Cloud snapped. “Stay dead, dammit!”

“So harsh.” Sephiroth managed a somewhat shaky smirk. “Yet, you’re… showing me kindness right now.”

“If I was kind, I wouldn’t be sitting here watching you die a slow, painful death”, Cloud retorted. Sephiroth didn’t say anything in response to that. He simply stared emptily forward, with an expression somewhere between sorrow and longing. Cloud didn’t know what to say or do at all, so he just sat there, frozen, in shock, watching as the light in Sephiroth’s eyes started fading.

“You’re so warm”, Sephiroth whispered. He was struggling to keep his eyes open, and he felt heavier and heavier in Cloud’s arms. “Cloud, I… want to stay like this… with you…”

“You’re delirious. The blood loss is getting to you”, Cloud said, trying to ignore the tight feeling in his throat. The rain had soaked him too, and left him shivering while clinging to Sephiroth’s warmth.

“I don’t… feel so alone, when you’re here.” It was clearly taking a lot of effort for Sephiroth to speak by now. His breaths were getting shallower and the raindrops trickling down his face almost looked like tears. Maybe they were. Cloud couldn’t tell. “You’re… the only person left that I…”

“Stop talking”, Cloud snapped, no longer certain if the water pouring down his own face was raindrops or tears either. “Just shut up! I don’t want to hear it, whatever you have to say!”

“Next time… will you let me die in your arms again?” Sephiroth’s lips curled into a smile. Not a smirk, but a genuine, small smile. “I haven’t felt peace like this… ever before.”

“How about you don’t come back at all?!” Cloud felt his voice crack and realised he hadn’t been crying before, because until now, the wet trails on his face had been cold, not warm like the tears that were now blurring his eyesight. “Just stay gone, dammit! I don’t…” His breath hitched and he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Crying over me now, Cloud…?” Sephiroth’s voice was barely even a whisper at this point. His hand found its way to Cloud’s arm, where the Geostigma had once been, and clung to it with more strength than Cloud had expected him to have left. Cloud wasn’t sure what this was, why he was crying over Sephiroth, of all people, but he still found himself pressing his head down against Sephiroth’s collarbone and shaking with sobs he could no longer hold back.

They remained in that position until the rain stopped falling and Sephiroth’s grip went limp.


	4. Bittersweet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s) for this chapter: Discussion of character death (they're talking about Zack), honestly this turned out way more bitter than sweet, I don't know where all this angst came from

The sight of the Buster Sword on the cliff overlooking Midgar never failed to fill Cloud with a sense of melancholy. Sephiroth was a quiet presence next to him. He’d been even more quiet than usual on the motorcycle ride here.

“What’s on your mind?” Cloud asked, desperately needing to fill the silence with something.

“This is… where it happened.” Sephiroth lowered his head, pointedly turning away from Cloud, eyes hidden behind his bangs.

“…Yeah.” Cloud bit his lip and turned away from Sephiroth, keeping his eyes firmly on the Buster Sword. What was he supposed to say? He never felt like he knew the right things to say with Sephiroth on a good day, and this didn’t qualify as good on any level. “I’ve been thinking I… should move it to her church. I feel like he’d want that.” He couldn’t bring himself to say either of their names.

“…I never realised you were so close to reaching Midgar”, Sephiroth said. “You could have made it safely there, and then…” His hands curled into fists at his sides. “I keep thinking… if he’d been there… maybe you could have stopped me earlier.”

“You think he would’ve been able to get through to you because you were friends?” Cloud asked. His voice felt oddly hoarse. “He… wasn’t able to get through to you in Nibelheim either.” He instantly regretted mentioning Nibelheim when he saw Sephiroth flinch at his words, but couldn’t quite bring himself to apologise either.

“…For a time, Zack was all I had.” Sephiroth’s voice was quiet. “He would always try so hard to cheer me up. He kept saying I should smile more, that we should spend more time together. And yet, I…” His breath hitched just a little bit, but still enough for Cloud to notice. He’d been around Sephiroth long enough to notice those small changes in his disposition. “…I never really had the strength to open up to him.”

Cloud reached out to take Sephiroth’s hand. Sephiroth still didn’t even bother to look his way, but simply grasped Cloud’s hand back, without hesitation.

“I don’t remember much from that time, but… he used to tell me that too, before everything went down. That we should hang out more, that I needed to be more open and make more friends.” Cloud wasn’t sure why he was talking about this. “I mean… I kind of got there eventually, even if the road there was rocky.”

“I’m sure he’s proud of you”, Sephiroth murmured.

“Yeah, I have no doubt about it.” Cloud swallowed down a lump in his throat. “I don’t feel like I’ve earned it, though. Sometimes, I still wish… that I could’ve been the one to die on this hill, instead of him.” It was a thought he’d never really admitted to anyone, not even Tifa, despite the fact that he was comfortable enough with her to tell her pretty much anything at this point.

“What?” For the first time, Sephiroth actually turned to look at him. The expression on his face was hard to read like always, but there was an intensity in his gaze that made Cloud want to shrink.

“If I’d been the one to die instead, I wouldn’t have to live with the memory.” Gods, why was he admitting these things to someone who’d been trying to kill him until recently?

“You know that’s not what Zack would have wanted”, Sephiroth said.

“I do, it’s just… I keep… remembering how he looked, in those last moments.” Cloud closed his eyes and lowered his head, trying to stay calm.

“I try to focus on my happy memories of him. I like to think that’s how he’d like to be remembered”, Sephiroth mumbled. “Still… it’s bittersweet to think of him. I feel the same way you do. He deserved to live… and so did Aerith. I do not.”

Cloud didn’t know what to say to that. It wasn’t like he could deny it; hell, he agreed! But he found he couldn’t say it, not when he opened his eyes to find Sephiroth’s gaze still trained on him, his turmoil clear on his face.

“Do you… have a lot of happy memories of him?” Cloud asked hesitantly. “I don’t remember much from that time, so… maybe you could share some, with me?”

“I… have some, I suppose.” Sephiroth sighed. His lips curled into the barest hints of a smile, before he tilted his head to hide his face behind his bangs. “We went to see a movie together, once. I had to be in disguise so no one would recognise me. It was… a really awful movie. But Zack loved it.”

“That does sound like Zack”, Cloud said, trying to keep his tone light. It felt strange, trying to bring the past up with Sephiroth. There was a disconnect in Cloud’s brain between the Sephiroth of the past who’d been Zack’s friend and Cloud’s hero, and the Calamity that had tried to bring about the end of the world. It was hard to accept that the man standing before him was both.

“…I want to go home, Cloud”, Sephiroth said, voice shaky, all of a sudden.

“Yeah…” Cloud swallowed. “Me too. Let’s go home.” If Sephiroth’s grip on his hand tightened at that, he paid it no mind.


	5. Gloves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s) for this chapter: We're back to nothing except for Sephiroth being a general disaster once again

Being stuck in an elevator with his boyfriend during a power outage shouldn’t have been a bad thing. In fact, Sephiroth felt like it should be the opposite, but Cloud looked incredibly uncomfortable. Whether it was from nausea or general awkwardness of being around his hero-recently-turned-boyfriend, Sephiroth didn’t know.

“Hey, do you ever take those gloves off? I’ve never seen you without them.”

It was an innocent enough question, and Sephiroth couldn’t blame Cloud for asking. Clearly, he just wanted to come up with something to talk about to make things less stiff between them. Still, it made Sephiroth feel on edge despite himself. He blamed the elevator. It was a well-kept secret that he hated feeling trapped.

“Why do you ask?”

“Just curious. I see you shirtless all the time but don’t know what your bare hands look like.” Cloud grinned at him so casually that it was clear he had no idea what he was asking. When Sephiroth didn’t say anything in response, however, his expression quickly grew uncertain. “…Did I… say something wrong?”

“I don’t like people seeing my bare hands”, Sephiroth admitted somewhat reluctantly. “…Would you… like me to take them off?” He supposed it was something he should be willing to do, now that he was in a relationship. They hadn’t been very physically affectionate with each other yet, mostly due to the fact that they were both very bad at initiating contact, but Sephiroth had a distinct feeling that not letting your partner see your hands was… strange.

“Not if it’s uncomfortable for you!” Cloud said immediately.

“It’s not”, Sephiroth said automatically. Why should it be? It was ridiculous. Why should he be uncomfortable with something so insignificant? He took a deep breath and held his hands out to Cloud. “Go ahead. Take them off.”

“Oh. Okay, umm…” Cloud looked really nervous now. Sephiroth wondered if it had been a bad idea to put him on the spot like that, but then he offered Sephiroth a wide smile and reached out to take his hands into his own smaller ones. A few seconds passed.

“What are you waiting for?” Sephiroth asked.

“Your hands are shaking”, Cloud murmured. “You don’t need to be nervous.” He began to pull the glove off of Sephiroth’s left hand, and Sephiroth had to put all his focus into keeping his breathing normal. Nothing was wrong. This was supposed to be normal. “Oh, you have a tattoo?”

“I do”, Sephiroth said. It was fine. Cloud didn’t need to know the story behind it. He could just keep thinking it was a normal tattoo…

“A tattoo of the number 1? Or is it the letter I?” Cloud sounded a bit confused, leaving Sephiroth’s glove half-on while running his fingers over the black ink on the back of Sephiroth’s hand.

“The number”, Sephiroth said, unable to prevent himself from flinching when Cloud suddenly leant in to press a soft little kiss to his number. Cloud peered up at him and offered him a smile so bright and cheerful that it was clear he thought everything was perfectly all right.

“Fitting!” he said. “You’re definitely my number one!”

Sephiroth couldn’t help it. He cracked a smile, despite himself. Cloud took the rest of the glove off and kissed the back of Sephiroth’s hand again. It was fine, Sephiroth tried to tell himself. Cloud thought it was just a tattoo. But still, there was a part of him screaming because Cloud had seen that he was marked, tainted…!

“Why are you so nervous about it?” Cloud asked, sounding concerned. “It’s just a tattoo, you chose to get it yourself, right? No need to be self-conscious… or was it for a dare or something?”

“It’s not just a tattoo”, Sephiroth blurted out, surprising even himself. And now Cloud was looking even more concerned, so he felt like he had to elaborate because there was nowhere to run. “It’s… what marks me as Shinra property.”

“Property? What do you mean? Does Shinra, like… legally own everyone in SOLDIER?” Cloud blinked and gave him a confused look, and Sephiroth instantly regretted saying anything.

“Not everyone in SOLDIER. Just me.” He shouldn’t have told Cloud. Now Cloud knew something that put them both in a dangerous position. “Don’t tell anyone”, he said urgently. “The Company will have your head if this becomes public knowledge.”

“…Oh.” Cloud had paled significantly. It only made Sephiroth feel even more awful for bringing this up.

“I shouldn’t have burdened you with this knowledge”, he said, closing his eyes and trying to ignore the shame pooling in his stomach.

“It’s not your fault.” He felt Cloud step closer to him before throwing his arms around Sephiroth and squeezing as hard as his frail little body allowed. Oh. This was the first time Cloud had initiated contact like this. “I won’t tell anyone. I’m so happy you trusted me enough to tell me. You can tell me anything, whenever you need to.”

“Thank you, Cloud”, Sephiroth murmured and hugged Cloud back, pressing his face down into Cloud’s soft, fluffy hair. He wasn’t ready to tell Cloud everything about his past, but the fact that the possibility was open to him was so much more relieving than he could ever have expected.

It still took half an hour for the power to come back on, but Sephiroth found he didn’t mind at all.


	6. Divinity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning(s) for this chapter: it's kind of a continuation of Day 1, so more Puppet Cloud, this time with bonus Safer Sephiroth! (also it's very much a bad end type of deal)

They hadn’t lasted long. Why would they have? He was a child of gods, divine in every way, and they were mere mortals. No matter how hard they struggled, they could never have defeated him, not when he had assumed this godly form and faced them with everything he had, holding nothing back. They had fought valiantly, yes, but it had all been in vain. Soon, oh so very soon, Meteor would collide with this Planet and leave an empty husk behind, and everything and everyone that had ever been against him would be gone.

Sephiroth liked how his puppet looked in his arms. His puppet’s former friends may have looked upon him with horror, but Cloud looked at him for what he was – a god, worthy of undying devotion. He wrapped the wing that had once been his right arm around Cloud and looked down at the serene expression on Cloud’s face, eyes matching Sephiroth’s own perfectly.

He’d never really intended to keep Cloud around for this long. He had stopped being useful from the moment he handed Sephiroth the Black Materia. But there was something about having complete power over this helpless puppet that left him feeling… possessive. Protective, in a way. He wanted to keep Cloud all to himself, just because he could.

Was this how humans felt about pets? A memory from back when he thought he was human came to him; as a child, he’d looked after the lab rats the scientists would use for experiments, but it had always been brief and none of them had ever lasted long enough for him to get attached. And they’d never been his and his alone, not like Cloud was.

“Mine”, he whispered and watched Cloud’s blank eyes come to focus on him. Yes, this was different. This was something more.

“Se… phi… roth…” Cloud could barely speak, but still forced the words out so desperately…

“What is it, puppet?” Sephiroth murmured. He wondered if Cloud had enough strength left to berate him. What names would Cloud call him? Would he scream and cry for his friends?

Cloud moved his lips, but no sound left him. So weak and helpless… That possessive feeling in Sephiroth’s chest grew stronger still.

“What did you say? Speak up for me, won’t you?” Sephiroth purred and continued to wait for the insults, the despair, the begging for Sephiroth to stop… but he didn’t get any of it. Instead, he got Cloud reaching out to touch Sephiroth’s face with his trembling hand. Sephiroth should not have allowed it. It was out of line for his puppet to be touching him like this without asking. But somehow, the feeling of Cloud’s hand brushing over his cheek without being ordered to was… fascinating, to him. Warm. He’d forgotten what warmth felt like.

“I… I…” Cloud was trying so hard to speak that Sephiroth almost pitied him. “I… love… you… Sephi…” The rest died on his tongue and Cloud looked so very close to desperate that Sephiroth simply shushed him and cradled him against his chest.

There it was again. That strange feeling in his chest. Sephiroth distantly wondered if anyone had ever said those words to him before. How curious. He should be above such simple human notions.

A part of him, that insignificant little part that continued to cling to memories of his humanity, wondered if he wasn’t subconsciously making Cloud say these things because he wanted to hear them, in some sort of desperate attempt to reaffirm himself of his self-worth. But no, it couldn’t be. He was above this. He was above such foolish attachments… And even if Cloud wasn’t saying these things of his own accord, even if Sephiroth was making him say them, so what? His puppet’s purpose was to adore him above all else. Whether Cloud, whatever was left of him, actually meant it shouldn’t have mattered. Still, maybe it did… just a little.

Sephiroth looked down at Cloud. He was trembling, looking up at Sephiroth with wide eyes as if he was pleading for a response. Sephiroth realised in that moment that he was never, ever letting Cloud go.

“I adore you too, my precious puppet”, he cooed, softer than he’d realised he was capable of. “You’re mine… All mine…” 

Cloud’s lips curled into the softest, sweetest smile he’d ever seen. Nobody had ever looked him with adoration that deep before. Sephiroth was the only thing that mattered to his puppet, and it was perfect. Not even Mother’s voice whispering stories of the universe in his ears seemed important right now.

Sephiroth wasn’t sure what had overcome him. Something inside him was burning with a desperate need; for what, he wasn’t entirely certain. He wanted to wrap Cloud up in his wings and make him his in every single possible way, as if he couldn’t already make Cloud’s mind and body follow his every whim. Perhaps it was a foolish decision, but he decided anyway, that wherever he was going next, he was taking Cloud with him.

“You will sail the stars with me, puppet”, he whispered and tightened his grip on Cloud. “Let us ascend to divinity, together.”

Cloud’s adoring smile remained the same when Sephiroth bent down to press their lips together, and so did the dull look in his eyes.


	7. Anniversary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I nearly forgot to post this completely because of the new remake trailer, happy anniversary everyone! And thanks for the fun week! :'D
> 
> Warning(s) for this chapter: None, it's all fluff, for once!

It was the anniversary of Meteorfall, and a festival was being held in Edge to celebrate. Snow had fallen in the surrounding area just a few days earlier, for the first time in many, many years from what Cloud had gathered. Tifa and Barret had managed to convince Cloud to come along, even though he would’ve rather spent the holiday in bed. He’d expected Sephiroth to be uncooperative, like he tended to be for events like this, but Marlene and Denzel didn’t even need to persuade him with their excitement before he was already putting his coat on.

Cloud didn’t mind the cold; he was used to it, after all, due to the harsh winters he’d seen growing up. And seeing Sephiroth wearing the scarf that matched his eyes, the one that Cloud had knitted for him the previous year, was just a bonus. It contrasted beautifully with his dark clothes and the red ribbon in his hair.

Meteor Square was full of people, and the kids vanished off into the crowd before Cloud even had the chance to notice. Barret rushed after them, ever the worried parent, while Tifa ended up wandering off to talk to some acquaintances Cloud presumed were 7th Heaven regulars. This left Cloud alone with Sephiroth, who was staring wistfully at the Meteor memorial.

“Everything okay?” Cloud asked. They didn’t talk about it much these days, but it was easy to see how much the past still haunted Sephiroth, even though it had been years.

“I was just… thinking.” Sephiroth turned to look at Cloud, a melancholic smile on his face. “If you’d asked me, while I was with Shinra… I’d never have thought my life would turn out like this.”

Cloud wondered what it felt like, to have gone from a world-renowned hero to a nobody sharing a cramped attic above a bar with five other people. It wasn’t something Sephiroth tended to address; it was as if everything that had happened before Sephiroth had given up his dreams of godhood had become too difficult to talk about, especially once Cloud and Sephiroth finally managed to put their differences aside and started dating.

“I’m sorry”, he said, almost automatically.

“Sorry?” Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, giving Cloud a surprised look. “Cloud, you have nothing to be sorry for.” He took a step closer, taking Cloud’s hands into his own. “You’ve done so much for me, helped me become a better person, and I’ve given you nothing in return, because I didn’t have anything to give.”

It wasn’t the first time Sephiroth had asked to repay Cloud and the others for helping him get back on his feet. Cloud wasn’t having any of it.

“I’ve told you before that you don’t have to give me anything, Seph…” Cloud was caught off guard by the look on Sephiroth’s face. He was watching Cloud with an enigmatically soft expression.

“Maybe I don’t have to… but I still have something I want to give you. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now.” Was Sephiroth… nervous about something? He kept dodging Cloud’s gaze, and still had that strange little smile on his face.

“…Okay?” Cloud was starting to feel nervous now too. “So, what is it?” He hoped Sephiroth hadn’t bought him some really expensive shit he didn’t need…

“Today felt like a fitting day for it”, Sephiroth said, glancing over at the Meteor memorial again. “After all, today is the anniversary of when you first… caught my attention.”

“Oh, you gonna go on a tirade about how I meant absolutely nothing to you until I literally killed you?” Cloud grinned. “Kinky bastard.”

“Cloud. Don’t ruin this for me…” Sephiroth sighed. “As I was saying, you’ve… come to mean a lot to me, Cloud. You’re the most important person in my life. The only person I trust with my entire heart. My equal in battle.”

“I’ve killed you, what, how many times? And you haven’t even killed me once. You’re not my equal, c’mon.” It was just too easy to tease him, sometimes.

“Cloud!” Sephiroth groaned. “Listen.” That odd smile crept back onto his face. “Once upon a time, I told you to get on your knees and beg for forgiveness. Now it’s my turn to kneel and ask you for something.”

For a moment, Cloud wasn’t sure what Sephiroth was going on about. He watched as Sephiroth got down on one knee, taking something out of his coat pocket and… oh. Oh, gods, that was a ring. When had his head started spinning like this? Cloud pressed his hands against his mouth to keep in the squeaking sound that had been on its way out.

“Cloud Strife, I love you more than anything. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Sephiroth was gazing up at Cloud, smiling with his entire face. “Will you marry me?”

In that moment, it didn’t matter that they were standing in the middle of a busy city, with people all around them. The world began and ended with Sephiroth kneeling at his feet. Cloud blinked back tears, and managed a nod.

“Yes. Yes! Of course I will!” He wiped the tears away with a smile, knelt down to throw his arms around Sephiroth, and held on tight.


End file.
